So Excited I can't Stand It

In the Trenches

So exciting, I can’t stand it.

This past Friday, I met with John Bauer, co-owner/founder of the The Foodery.

The Foodery is a meal deliver service that focuses on cooking and delivering high quality prepared meals, using organic, pesticide, and hormone free ingredients sourced from local and sustainable sources.

 After reviewing their website and blog as well as meeting with John face to face, I know that The Foodery will be an excellent solution for some of you who struggle with finding good nutritious meals that are also convenient.

As they have generously offered to send me a sample meal bundle, which I will receive Sunday evening, I am holding off on a full and detailed review.  But in the meantime, I wanted to whet your appetite, pun intended, and get the word out there about this awesome company.

Sitting Is the Smoking of Our Generation

Many of you have heard me say on the training floor, “we spend so much time sitting. We sit in our cars on the way to work, then we sit hunched over a desk all day, back in our cars, eat dinner sitting, and watch TV sitting then bed. That is why we try to have you do as many exercises as we can standing.”

In fact, I was just talking with Jess, the Manager of Brookline Village, how I walked by one of our competitors who shall be nameless and noticed that all the exercises were being done seated.  Seriously, not only is it not optimal, I won’t say not effective because even seated exercise is better than no exercise, but I’m thinking B-O-R-I-N-G.  After sitting all day, I want to get up, move around get the blood flowing.

Now granted there are some people that have certain physical limitations and can’t stand.  I’m not talking about them.  I’m talking about seemingly healthy individuals spending 80-90% of their waking day sitting.

That being said, I’d like to share an article Sitting Is the Smoking of Our Generation: Nilofer Merchant.

I have to be honest, I stole it from TonyGentilcore, who is not only one of the most awesome strength and conditioning coaches out there, but he is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.  Tony stole it from someone else. I’m not sure what the etiquette is in terms of how far back do you need to go to credit someone.  If anyone knows, please feel free to pass on the info.

The gist of the article is that we as a culture have become so accustomed to spending the majority of our day seated that it doesn’t even strike us that it’s something to be concerned about, much like smoking was back in the day.  The author, Nilofer Merchant goes on to discuss the extend that sitting has had on our health and how he has implemented a strategy to help him get more activity into his life.

It’s a well thought out and enlightening read.  I hope you all take the opportunity to read it.

A Paradigm Shift

In the Trenches: A Paradigm Shift

Last week I addressed the idea of making a paradigm shift in thinking of nutrition from a place of restriction

“I can’t eat….” To one of empowerment “I don’t WANT to eat….”

I’d like to continue on in the same vain this week.  I’ve been thinking a lot about this paradigm shift and I realized that when I concentrate on getting strong and eating in such a way that will support my endeavor, I actually eat better and feel more empowered and in control and really good things start to happen.

 I get stronger, that goes without saying.  My body fat usually decreases but more importantly, when I feel strong,  I have a healthier body image regardless of my weight or body fat.

I don’t feel deprived and I’m not always thinking about what I “can’t eat” but about “What I DO WANT to eat to support my goal”.

Terms such as “diet”, “weight loss”, and “fat loss” connote negativity and self-denial.  Whereas terms such as strength and health are positive and empowering.

When making decisions about the food we eat, let’s try to think how does this food affect my body?  Will what I am about to eat feed my body and allow it to work the way it was designed?  Will it help boost my immune system?  Will it support proper digestion? Will it the proper uptake of and production of the hormones that promote good emotional health and sleep?

If we keep in mind that our bodies are a series of complex chemical reactions, then food when broken down into its chemical components is in fact medicine, and good nutrition should be the first thing we think of when discussing health and preventing illness.

Eat a variety of vegetables in copious amounts, throw in a few servings of fruit, plenty of lean protein, some healthy fats: olive oil, olives, nuts, avocado etc. and some whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, millet and whole wheat to name a few.  Drink plenty of water, and keep consumption of added sugar and chemical additives to a minimum if at all.

Eat, enjoy and be healthy.

Nutritional Paradigm Shift

In The Trenches

Happy Post Holidays.

I don’t know about everyone else, but after days or so of not eating optimally, I feel like CRAP.

It’s really amazing how my body after a couple of days of eating hors d’oeuvres and Chinese food is SCREAMING for broccoli, and chicken and other fruits, veggies and good protein sources.

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not perfect in regards to my nutrition, but I've come a long way. Case in point, here is what a typical day looked like for me back in the day.

• ·        Breakfast: Cereal most likely honey nut cheerios OR I’d pick up a cinnamon bun or doughnut with a cup of coffee
• ·        Lunch: sub, sandwich, hot dog and French fries, whatever
• ·        Dinner: cheese raviolis with veggies, butter and Parmesan cheese.

I also would often make a meal out of nachos. I ate a huge amount of cheese AND I’d always have something for desert, cookies or ice cream.

You get the picture, my nutrition was a mess.

Now that my nutrition is so much improved, I can’t even imagine eating that way for any length of time.

Last week I watched the documentary, “Hungry for Change”.  It’s about how the food industry misleads consumers into believing that chemically engineered “food” is good for us, but in reality is quite the opposite.

There were two key points that I took away that I would like to share:

First was a discussion on how our bodies instinctively know what foods it should eat to maintain optimum health and wellness.  WE just need to get re-connected and learn to listen and trust our natural instincts.

The second and we have all heard this before: “DIETS DON’T WORK”, at least long term. The reasoning, the moment you tell someone NOT to eat something, all they think about is what they aren't eating.  There needs to be a paradigm shift from, “I can’t eat such and such” to “I don’t want to eat such and such”.

How is this accomplished?  Simply concentrate on ADDING in the healthy stuff: vegetables, fruit, lean protein sources, healthy fats from nuts, avocado, and cold water fish.  Eventually the healthy foods and the desire for healthy food will crowd out the less healthy foods, as your body and your mind start to work optimally and efficiently.